The coating of flexible supports with liquid silicones is typically carried out on coating devices that operate continuously at very high speed. These devices usually comprise coating heads composed of several rolls, including in particular a pressure roll and a coating roll that are continuously fed with a silicone composition that may or may not be cross-linkable, by means of a series of rolls that are placed next to one another. A strip of flexible support of the desired material to be coated is fed at high speed between the pressure roll and the coating roll to be coated on at least one of its surfaces. When it is intended to cross link the silicone coating, apparatus to implement a cross linking reaction are positioned downstream of the coating head. The apparatus that implements cross linking may be for example an oven or an emitter of radiation, e.g. ultraviolet (UV) radiation or an emitter of a beam of electrons (EB).
High speed coating of flexible supports with silicones has been associated with problems associated with the transfer of the silicone liquid (or fluid) from the coating roll to the flexible support, which moves forward through the coating apparatus. One of the particular problems associated with transfer of the silicone liquid from the coating roll to the flexible support is the appearance of a fog, mist or aerosol in the immediate vicinity of the coating head and particularly close to the points of contact between the coating roll and the flexible support being coated. Typically, the density of this fog, mist or aerosol increases with an increase in the forward speed of the flexible support being coated by the apparatus.
The first effect of this transfer problem is to reduce the amount of silicone liquid actually transferred to the flexible support. A second effect is for the droplets comprising the fog, mist or aerosol to condense onto the newly coated flexible support downstream of the coating rolls creating an orange peel effect. This orange peel effect, or coating non-uniformity, creates problems with coverage, the mechanical properties of the coating, e.g. ruboff, and adhesion resistance.
An additional problem caused by non-uniformity in the coating is related to industrial hygiene and the safety of people operating the coating equipment who are working in the vicinity of the coating equipment.